The Royal Calendar: July 17

July 17

ROYAL BIRTHDAYS

Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia/Serbia {1945}

The Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla), Princess of Wales, Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Chester, Countess of Carrick, Lady Renfrew, Lady of the Isles, Princess of Scotland {1947} [wife of Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (son of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain + Northern Ireland)]

King Letsie III of Lesotho {1963}

Felipe Juan Froilan de Marichalar y de Borbon, Grandee of Spain {1998} [son of Infanta Elena of Spain, Duchess of Lugo (daughter of King Juan Carlos I of Spain)]

HISTORICAL ROYAL EVENTS

1203 The Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople by assault. The Byzantine Emperor Alexius III Angelus flees from his capital into exile.

1402 Zhu Di, better known as his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the thronw of the Ming Dynasty of China.

1717 King George I of Great Britain sails down the River Thames with a barge of 50 musicians, where Georg(e) Frideric/Friedrich Handel's Water Music is premiered.

1762 Catherine II "the Great" becomes Empress [regnant] + Autocrat of all the Russias upon the murder of Tsar Peter III of Russia.

1917 King George V of the United Kingdom issues a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British royal family will bear the surname Windsor.

1918 On the orders of the Bolshevik Party carried out by Cheka, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are murdered at the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

1973 King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan while in Italy undergoing eye surgery.

1981 The opening of the Humber Brige by HM Queen Elizabeth II near Kingston-upon-Hull, England.